“A deeply pessimistic film, it questions the roots of loyalty and identity by examining the stated motives of its characters at every stage of the film. Widmark is at his ambiguous best.”
– Time Out London

Director Samuel Fuller uncorks a mad Cold War adventure with Hell and High Water (1954), shot in CinemaScope even as it takes place mostly on a submarine commanded by Richard Widmark at his toughest. He and his cohorts are bound for the Arctic, hoping to uncover and thwart a plot to start a nuclear war with an atomic incident that will be blamed on the United States. Bella Darvi, Victor Francen, and Cameron Mitchell also star; super-cinematographer Joe MacDonald is behind the camera; and the score is by the one and only Alfred Newman.